Recipe: Cauliflower and Speck Quiche

I really enjoy making quiche.  It doesn't take much effort and a quiche can feed me for a couple of days since I'm on my own. But it makes a great side dish for a family as well. And it can also very easily hide any number of vegetables from a picky eater.
At the market last week, I found individual cauliflower heads and thought they'd be great to add to a quiche.
I also bought some speck which is a dry-cured, lightly smoked ham (similar to prosciutto crudo). It is lightly cured, and then is alternatively exposed to smoke and fresh air. It is smokier, drier and saltier than a prosciutto crudo.
To go with the speck, I also got a smoked scamorza cheese (scamorza affumicata). Scamorza is similar to mozzarella but generally drier and more elastic. It can either be sold after a two week drying process, or it can be smoked. The smoked scamorza has a wonderful, subtle flavor that has a light caramel note that I really enjoy.

Ingredients

3 single small heads of cauliflower (or 1 regular sized cauliflower)
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 or 2 pats of butter
200 gr speck
1 small smoked scamorza, diced
4 eggs
1-2 tbs whole milk
basil
pepper
parmesan cheese
1 pre-made pie crust

Pre-heat the over to 350°.
Cut the cauliflower into pieces and add to boiling water. You can add a pinch of salt, but not too much

because the speck acts like bacon and is full of flavor and salt. When the cauliflower is cooked, drain and put to the side to cool.
Slice up the speck evenly.  If you don't have speck, you can also use prosciutto crudo or bacon. If you decide to use bacon, be sure sure to drain the excess fat.
Sweat the onion in butter and then add the speck into the pan as soon as the onion starts to become transparent. Let cook for a minute or so (so it just barely starts to change color) and remove from the heat.
In a bowl, beat 4 eggs, milk, pepper, basil and parmesan together. When it's blended well, add in the scamorza, cauliflower and speck/onion mixture.
Pour into the pie crust and bake for 30-40 minutes. The crust should turn golden the the egg should be cooked all the way through.

Recipe: Pesto Chicken fingers with Cauliflower Salad and Potatoes

Last week at the supermarket I found breadcrumbs and chicken breast and therefore the most logical thing to make was chicken fingers. Except, I am not remotely capable of making anything simply so I decided to make pesto chicken fingers with a side of cauliflower and potatoes. I probably should have made a salad, but the potatoes were so tempting.

Finished deliciousness!

Ingredients:

1 whole Chicken breast

½ - 1 cup breadcrumbs (unseasoned)

3 tbs pesto (or to taste)

Salt and pepper

Red pepper flakes to taste

Oil

At the store I bought an entire deboned chicken breast and then sliced it into cutlets. It was more cost efficient and I got to decide how thick to cut the chicken. That being said, you can absolutely purchase sliced chicken.

Once the chicken is sliced, coat with a thick layer of pesto sauce (at some point, I promise I’ll make some from scratch). Spend some time massaging the pesto into the chicken so then it really absorbs the flavors.

In a separate plate, mix the breadcrumbs with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and then dredge the chicken in the mixture. Make sure to coat each piece well.

Pour oil into a large flat pan and heat over a medium flame. When the oil is hot, start carefully placing your chicken into the pan. Cook on each side until golden brown.  They should be cooking for a minimum of 2 minutes on each side if the pieces aren’t too thick. When you remove the chicken from the oil, set aside on a paper towel so the excess oil is absorbed.

Serve warm with a drizzle of pesto on top.

 

Beautiful with a drizzle of pesto on top!

We also ate our chicken with a potato salad made simply with olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper

I wish there had been more color in our sides!

flakes. Then I also had cauliflower for the first time in ages. We boiled it lightly after cutting it into uneven pieces and then tossed it with olive oil, red garlic chunks (slightly different than normal garlic, so I’m going to have to post about it soon), salt and pepper.  It was light and delicious.

Both sides really went well with the pesto chicken fingers because they have such mild, yet delicious flavors.